Reaping Beauty
by KingAlanI
Summary: By Alan Gilfoy in the world of Suzanne Collins. Glimmer volunteers one year earlier than in canon, and Johanna is reaped one year later than in my headcanon. They discover they have some rather significant things in common. So do two girls from District Twelve, inspired by the tribute couple. (My first attempt at writing slash)
1. Love And Death

**Reaping Beauty**

By Alan Gilfoy in the world of Suzanne Collins. Glimmer volunteers one year earlier than in canon, and Johanna is reaped one year later than in my headcanon. They discover they have some rather significant things in common. (My first attempt at writing slash)

Rated M, Genres Romance/Adventure, Characters Glimmer/Johanna

**Chapter**

(Glimmer Shinesmith)

"You're two years too young," Cashmere insisted.

"You know I can do it," I countered.

"Why do you want to rush, Glim?" she wondered.

"With Diamond winning last year, and Sapphire the year before that, I want to make it three, a honor above and beyond even a regular Hunger Games victory," I explained. "After all, you won the year before your brother, which helped make your victories extra-special," I said triumphantly, because I didn't think she could counter that.

"You always were ambitious, Big Shiny," she admitted. Her and Lil' Shiny, my sister Lustre, were the only two people I let use that nickname. "There are no other obvious female candidates this year – you have my vote."

In the better districts, several people competed for the honor of volunteering for the Hunger Games, and the past victors determined who would actually receive it. District One had twelve living victors – Gloss would almost certainly agree with his younger sister, and their father Chrome and grandfather Facet would likely follow. Emerald, who won nineteen years ago, had always liked me. All twelve were mindful of continuing their legacy, but Sapphire and Diamond were especially mindful of who had the best chance of extending their streak. I don't think Cashmere and I were deluding ourselves – that person was me. So I had my seven votes, imagine my surprise when the victors returned a unanimous decision in my favor. Diamond had been named after a victor nearly a half century ago; the elder Diamond and Cashmere's grandpa Facet had won over all of the older Victors.

Jane was the pinnacle of a glamorous Capitol woman, yet I didn't even notice what name she had picked – in District One, that was merely a formality before a brave young man and woman said the words "I volunteer as tribute". It was finally my turn to utter that magic phrase, along with Alpha Miner, a boy I did not know except for relatively small interactions in the academy which trained us for the Games. Sapphire and Diamond were amongst the many girls that had put out for him, but I hadn't – I didn't understand what was appealing about an idiot braggart like that, however handsome and strong he was. Miss Silversmith, Miss Hoffman and his many other lovers insisted he was well-equipped, and that was very much how Glimmer liked her boys, but still, Alpha never appealed to me. I would've rather had Sapphire and Diamond themselves, but alas, they were born to feel that their jewels were for boys only, whereas I had the luck to be created open-minded as well as open-legged.

(Johanna Mason)

One more year and my worry would be over. The past six years, I had survived the Reaping and twelve kids from District Seven hadn't. May the odds be ever in your favor, they said, about entering and winning the Games, but I took it to mean not being thrown into the arena in the first place. My little brother James had already avoided death once. Both of us found love much preferable. He was always going on and on about the girls he had crushes on. The ladies that were too old for him, I was glad to take off his hands and put into my hands. The memories of fondling their breasts caused me to almost involuntarily touch my own chest lumber.

One more reaping, and I would be back in the woods cutting down trees to feed the Capitol lumber and paper mills. It wasn't much of a life, but it was life instead of death, and it had developed my muscles and skills with an ax. The boys around here appreciated toned and athletic women. I _appreciated_ their physique too - I certainly liked their look enough to drop my pants, open my legs, and take them inside me.

Yet it was not to be. The Capitol airhead's hand just had to find one of the seven slips that read 'Johanna Mason'. I had long since been determined to be the fourth District Seven victor if it ever came to that, but I knew how unlikely that was, facing the bloodthirsty volunteers of One, Two and Four. At least Jamie was safe another year – I didn't want to face my own kin, and he had no chance anyway.

Peacekeepers threw me into a car as if I was a criminal like the ones The Capitol punished nearly a century ago. I saw Pine and Blight at the train station. They were old men, but they had won this once, and I would be wise to listen for tips on how to join them. "Seems Miss Airhead gave us a strong girl to work with this year," Blight said to assess my physique – I could tell his intention was nonsexual, since I knew darn well what men sounded like when they wanted a piece of Mason ass. Also, by omission he said that I had a better chance than my district partner – I wouldn't have bet on that scrawny little boy even if he wasn't my competition. "Pretend you're weak," Blight offered as his first piece of advice. "so when you demonstrate your strength, they won't see it coming." Johanna Mason was nothing if not smart, and I found this irresistibly clever.

(Glimmer Shinesmith)

Cashmere had prepared me for this moment, when we were on a luxury train hurtling towards the Capitol. We sat back in soft spacious chairs as we reviewed the other eleven reapings on giant screens and had Avox servants ply our mouths with the most delightful Capitol delicacies. Districts Two and Four provided the expected physical wonders, for they were much like my own District One in their loyalty to the Capitol. In most of the other districts, Peacekeepers dragged scrawny little kids kicking and screaming to the Reaping stages. In Three, they were stoic and had smirks on their faces, hardly uncommon for the clever technologists native to that district. The girl from Seven was in wonderful shape, probably from chopping wood all day as they did in the land of lumber and paper. Her forearms glistened in the summer afternoon sunlight, and I probably would have seen her abs shine too had she been wearing a smaller shirt. I had worn some of my very best dresses and jewelry for this occasion. I would wear one of my rings as a token of home in the arena. It had been a gift from Emerald. Yet Miss Seven was in common clothes like it had been any other day. She was as well-muscled as any boy, yet she was all-woman, and I wanted those hands all over _my_ womanly parts…._s__nap out of it, Glim! This isn't a time for two people making love! This is a time for 24 people trying to kill one another!_

(Johanna Mason)

The train was damn nice, instead of our rustic life back in a District Seven hut, but I focused on the task ahead of me, paying little mind to the fancy food the Capitol's servants put in front of me. I ate aimlessly as we watched the tapes of the other 22 tributes being chosen or volunteering – I needed to understand the competition as thoroughly as possible if I stood a chance of outliving them. At first glance, I saw what was expected out of the District Two and Four brutes and no other threats from my fellow outer districts. One was a different story. The boy looked particularly strong, a threat for obvious reasons. He was tall and handsome, which would obviously draw a lot of positive attention from the vain residents of the Capitol. He wore tight-fitting pants which showed off his assets below the waist – I was starting to get distracted, let alone the Capitolites. I knew better than that, and had started to snap out of it when the camera refocused on the female from that lowest-numbered district. They way her braided pigtails bounced against her shoulders, the way her dark green eyes stared with an intensity that I had only seen in my brown orbs, the way her whole shapely figure moved as she walked up to the stage…I wanted her next to me, preferably with minimal clothes in the way, let alone any fabric at all. _Blight wants me to put on a weak act? Maybe I can appe__ar the lovestruck girl, but I'm afraid I'm not just pretending._

(Glimmer Shinesmith)

I'd have time for at least a short nap before we arrived in the Capitol. The city was beautiful, and so were the fashions of its people. The train station wasn't so decorated, but it still shined. Tribute trains were the station's only business on Reaping Day, yet the platforms were packed with Capitol residents wanting to get glimpses of the brave tributes. The display of pending arrivals listed 3/2 from the west, 7/6/5 from the northwest, 4/10 and 11/9 from the southeast, and 12/8 from the east. I couldn't wait for the northwest train. I'd have to see how impressive that Johanna girl was in person, preferably as she pressed up against me. Us tributes from One, Two and Four always formed an alliance, and sometimes invited particularly deserving tributes from other districts. Johanna seemed most promising this year, and not just as a way for me to get closer to her.

(Johanna Mason)

I tried to calm my nerves by laying in the luxurious Capitol bed, but sleep wouldn't come. Eventually we started heading through the tunnels in the mountains surrounding the Capitol. The city looked so garish, both from a distance and up close, and as I analyzed the crowds at the train station, I thought the people were just as bad. The station information said that 3/2 was due from the west, 7/6/5 from the northwest, 4/10 and 11/9 from the southeast, and 12/8 from the east. District One surrounded the Capitol, so I wasn't sure what direction Glimmer would be coming from. Try as I might, I couldn't help but be intrigued with the District One beauty. "Blight, screw that 'weak' shit," I told the relatively youngest of my two old mentors. "I'm going to try to get into the Careers."

"Try to get into a particular Career's pants," he teased. He was more accurate than I would have liked to admit.

I saw the District One train pull up on the same side the platform we had landed on. This year's mentors, Cashmere and her brother Gloss, were no slouches in the looks department either. Yet it was the female tribute I meant when I decided to cop an attitude and shout out "Hey, sexy!"

(Glimmer Shinesmith)

The tributes from Five, Six and Seven were still on the platform when our train arrived at the station, operative part being the female tribute from Seven. As soon as our team's feet hit the station's solid marble, Miss Mason called out "Hey, sexy!". She was looking right at me as she said that, I just knew it. I looked back at her, and her response to my glance confirmed my wishful thinking. I disregarded Cashmere and Jane's standard instructions to walk up to this Johanna. My fellow tribute reached out with her hand, not to shake mine, but rather to cop a feel, I thought, as her hand 'accidentally' brushed across my waist.

(Johanna Mason)

Glimmer obviously saw in me what I saw in her. It wasn't accidental as my 'hug' went lower than the standard friendly embrace, and I don't think it was accidental as her hands gripped my ass. _Right there, Shinesmith. Ri__ght there._ Even the sexually expressive District One girl didn't dare go farther with the crowd surrounding us. I wondered if it was even possible for two tributes from opposing districts to find time alone. Even before the chariots had paraded us into the Capitol, we already had a love or death situation on our hands.


	2. Gazing From Afar

_Previously in Reaping Beauty: The 73__rd__ Hunger Games' female tributes from Districts One and District Seven are both actively bisexual and quickly become very interested in each other._

**Chapter**

(Margaret 'Madge' Undersee)

I couldn't believe my eyes when watching the broadcast of the tributes' arrival in the Capitol. I wanted a woman to hold me like how Glimmer and Johanna were holding each other, although of course without that whole 'probably going to die soon' part.

I knew for years that I had felt that way. Even Gale, the most handsome boy in the district, didn't attract me. That helped me realize it would be a woman I'd love. Gale spent much of his time in the woods with my friend Katniss. I didn't know how she felt. She didn't seem attracted to Gale either. I wondered if perhaps she wasn't ready for love of any sort. On the other hand, maybe Katniss wasn't attracted to men either. I clung to that hope - in such a small district, it would be hard enough to find a girl like me. Most of the girls at school drooled over Gale and male Victors like Finnick Odair, I admit I entertained similar thoughts about the recent lady victors Stephanie and Winnow, and they were very entertaining thoughts indeed. Katniss and I were different from those schoolgirls – we simply did not get involved in our classmates' vapid discussions, even when they were talking about something besides boys. I appreciated her intelligent company even with no spark between us.

My parents had figured it out – of course a parent would know or should know such an important and obvious fact about their child. I knew I could even marry another woman; I'd seen my father the mayor handle the paperwork a few times, and he had made a point of inviting me to the Justice Building on such days. My mother was a wreck due to her twin sister Maysilee dying in the arena 23 years ago; my trouble in finding love made her feel even worse.

It sadly could be problematic to publicly express that key part of my identity just like regular people did, even more so due to my father's political position. Disapproval of such behavior was one of the Capitol's many ways of looking down on the districts. The Capitol gladly embraced homosexuality amongst the city's own residents, so it was hypocritical besides. Furthermore, I felt Capitol lesbians were just as unidentifiable as the other people that lived in that city.

Maybe Glimmer and Johanna would draw such wrath, or maybe them being popular tributes would help lead to a change. It looked like another year for the ladies. District One females had won the last two years, and three girls from other districts in the years before that. Decades ago, there had been two streaks of five males from different districts. More recently, there had been two consecutive opposite-gender pairs from the same district. Glimmer was 16 – maybe she volunteered early to try and continue the streak. The other volunteers were already 18 anyway – Glimmer's district partner Alpha, Claudia and Justinian of Two, and Seashell and Poseidon of Four. I didn't understand why anyone would want to take on such a high risk of death. The odds were usually in the inner districts' favor without us rooting for them. Repeat wins are a bitter pill to swallow in my district, which hadn't had any victors at all in 23 years, the last being Maysilee's ally Haymitch Abernathy. I wanted District Twelve to finally win again this year, but I knew how unlikely that was, so I was rooting for Johanna.

(Katniss Everdeen)

Gale didn't hoot and holler over the two female tributes' torrid embrace like some of the boys at school. He was a rebel to the core, and that's what he saw in it – insubordination, not lust. I was used to his defiant diatribes, but this was something new. "The Games are about dividing the districts," he insisted, "and here we saw One and Seven very much not divided," he joked. He was hopeful while analyzing their motives. "Maybe it's intentional, for Glimmer to take a stand and for Johanna to make the best out of a very bad situation." _We certainly understood that._ "Winning a lover and an ally will make it seem innocuous to the Capitol. Maybe that's all they intended, but maybe it will spiral out of control." I agreed with him on that, and not just for the sake of being friendly. Whatever those girls were thinking, they had come up with it quickly. Since the Capitol kept the districts so rigidly separated, there was no way Shinesmith and Mason could have known about each other before today.

I was glad I wasn't with them. The Capitol had given me another year that they shouldn't have the power to take. Four down, three to go. My darling little sister Prim still faced all seven, starting next year. Gale and I were in a very similar situation, in this as in many other things – he had six years behind him and one left, with one of his brothers facing his first reaping next year.

However, there was one aspect of it I didn't want to discuss, even not with him, or especially not with him. Watching Glimmer and Johanna excited me in a way that I thought boys were supposed to. I didn't think about love much at all. I couldn't afford to – me, Prim and Mother were barely surviving as is without me being distracted. I saw what losing my father had done to my mother and couldn't bear to risk a similar fate for myself. I also considered the effect having him had on her – she abandoned her life in the relatively rich part of town to be with him, which seemed like madness. I didn't want to lose my mind to that extent.

I loved him as much as one can love a father, so I understood how she could love him so much as a husband. Their love had been obvious just looking at them, before the mines took his body and her mind. I wasn't particularly close to Mother – I still resented how she had nearly abandoned her children out of grief over losing their father. I took after him and not Mother like Prim had, which proved to be necessary for our survival.

I didn't know who else to talk to about this. Prim was too young to know about such things, and I shared most things with Gale, but not this, especially not this – it was too weird even though there was nothing romantic between us. I couldn't afford to jeopardize the hunting-partner relationship that both our families' lives depended on and I didn't want to risk the strong nonromantic friendship we had built up these three years. Maybe he thought the same. There were some other people in District Twelve's black market that we did good business with, but Madge was the only other real friend I had – she was surprisingly similar to me, considering she was the mayor's daughter.

Except for the two of us, it seemed like most of the girls in the district wanted Gale, so he would have no trouble finding a wife. The few times I thought about that, I worried how it might impact our work and friendship, and I figured I was afraid of love in general. Maybe it wasn't boys I was born to love.


	3. We Have Arrived

_Previously in Reaping Beauty: The 73__rd__ Hunger Games' female tributes from Districts One and District Seven are both actively bisexual and quickly become very interested in each other. Two __girls from District Twelve ponder latent versions of such feelings._

**Chapter**

(Glimmer Shinesmith)

I was already exceedingly well-groomed anyway, so the prep team just had to touch me up a bit. "Making District One girls look good is not difficult," one of them observed. Stephanie had been a Games stylist for a few years now, and she brought out some wonderful feathers and furs. However, she insisted it wasn't safe to go through the chariot ride in heels, darn her. Johanna's attitude would already be news. Too bad the District Seven stylists put their tributes in stupid tree costumes yet again.

The Careers usually gathered in the training center soon after the arrival parade. This year, my behavior with Johanna would be an obvious topic of discussion. We gathered for the first night's dinner. Johanna and I joined Seashell and Poseidon of District Four in having seafood. She greeted me at the serving table by pulling my body close, but we had to separate to go eat – I couldn't much call her a Career without the approval of the other five. Alpha and Justinian were both stuffing themselves with a messy pile of food – I saw fried potatoes, noodles in cream sauce, spiced beef, and sausages.

"Maybe Glimmer doesn't like Academy classmate dick," my District Two counterpart Claudia guessed. "I can't get enough of it," she continued.

"That's for sure!" Justinian added. The way he casually said it, I figured they were occasional partners, if that even – definitely nothing more.

"Oh, Glimmer likes plenty of that too. Seems she's put out for most of the guys at school except me," Alpha parried. "And some of the girls too," he continued. As much as his attitude could annoy me, I gave him some credit for that.

"Yeah, people can go both ways you know," I said sarcastically at Claudia and Justinian. To get the discussion back on topic, I added "And those muscles of hers have gotta be good for something – considering District Seven, probably axes."

Seashell helped me play the diplomat, saying "Glimmer already took care of our biggest outside threat – I'm not really concerned about any of the other 17 tributes, are you?"

"Me either," her district partner concurred. "Dmitri and Silica might be clever like tributes from Three often are, but we obviously wouldn't know that yet. Them and other surprises maybe, Johanna definitely."

(Johanna Mason)

_Do they want fighters or models?_ I thought as another damn wax strip was torn off with some of my leg hair attached. _I'm not surprised that the natural look given by years of work is a foreign concept here._ With my legs bare, I asked them to leave the spot between my legs alone, and surprisingly, they agreed. That would be visible only to me (and Glimmer!) anyway. They smoothed out my hands, appendages worn from wielding hefty double-bladed axes, as if I was meant to hold nothing but golden trinkets. _Ah hell, who am I kidding, I was all over Glimmer, and District One takes after the Capitol__.__Granted,__ they can't afford the heights of our masters' insanity._

Tree costumes again. Our stylists sucked as bad as the ones for Twelve, who were in crappy miner outfits as usual. Apparently this was all they could think of. After my stunt with Glimmer, it would have helped to show how sexy I am; Glimmer's own stylist certainly had no trouble with that! Seven last had a victor 21 years ago, and the odds hadn't been in Six, Ten, Eleven or Twelve's favor for decades either. The Capitol starved and overworked us, so the tribute staff didn't have much to build on, but some of them weren't even trying. Five, Eight and Nine had been lucky to have Victors within my lifetime; it was time for me personally to be so fortunate.

For once in our lives, what little probably remained of them, we got to eat well. I found myself next to Glimmer at the seafood station of the buffet. I hooked my arm around her waist and I knew she wanted more, but I wasn't a Career yet, so we sat down at separate tables. I couldn't blame her for not wanted to go over their heads.

After the meal was over and Avox slaves began to clean up from it, the tributes began to leave the hall. Glimmer smiled at me and made an apparently celebratory hand gesture. I followed her back to her apartment, if only because the 1st floor was closer than the 7th floor. Whatever, Blight and Pine can both go work with Elm; he needs the help. As I followed the District One team into their quarters, Glimmer's mentor Cashmere gave her the same gesture Glimmer had given me. Cashmere's brother and fellow victor Gloss was trying to get the District One boy Alpha to leave us alone. I followed Glimmer into her bedroom and shut the door behind us.

(Glimmer Shinesmith)

"Now where were we?" Johanna asked with a twinkle in her eye.

"You're probably in the alliance. You're definitely in my pants," I answered.

"What about my pants?" she wondered, immediately dropping the bottom half of the ugly utilitarian tribute uniform.

She had worn the underwear but had taken it off in the same motion - I saw its waistband and the pants' waistband in a pile together on the floor. Yet there was still something underneath. "Seems there's one forest you don't cut down," I joked.

"Yeah. The Seven preps are too lazy to care, and this is the silver lining," she explained.

"Looks like a brown lining to me," I continued. _The carpet matched the drapes. She was the kind of girl to leave herself as is__, and I ironically found her plain beauty exotic._

While laughing over that, she managed to say "Seems we've got a comedian here".

"I knew you were hot as soon as I saw you, but that attitude is what really turned me on. Glimmer likes bad boys and bad girls," I explained.

"Apparently you do! I've had plenty of both myself," she explained while feeling my jewel through my clothes. It was wet and getting wetter. This all confirmed both her attitude and my appreciation of it. I didn't want cotton between her hand and my lower lips for much longer. She barely let go for long enough for me to strip, and then her hand shot right back between my legs to press my button. I was writhing all over the bed from the moment she touched me. I had plenty of appreciation for the raw power of a big dick, but there was something I liked even more about the nimble and delicate skill of the right woman. The right men damn well tried to touch me like that, and some were quite good at it, but I remembered nothing like this.

My body was already shaking, and when she leaned down to kiss me there, my mind was blown along with it. She left no trail of kisses - she went right for my treasure. I was already as aroused as I could possibly be, so I was glad she was no tease. "'Hanna," I moaned as I began squirming all over the huge bed.

As she came up for air, she said "Call me whatever you want, I know you're calling me for dessert!" _Oh, 'Hanna!_, I thought as I spread my legs even wider and thrust my hips forward. Overtaken by this intoxicating display of lust, she went right back to burying her face in my nether regions.

(Johanna Mason)

With Glimmer's juices wetting my face, I leaned back to triumphantly shout "my turn!" Considering the state she was in, I knew she'd waste no time in taking care of _Hanna, apparently. Most people, lovers or not, who shortened my name went the other way and called me 'Jo'._

As she leaned into kiss me, I whipped my shirt off, wondering why it was still on. She actually began licking her own musk off my face before putting her tongue in my mouth. I often pinned people to the mat, but I was no stranger to this form of wrestling either. Our hands were plenty busy – she cupped my ass again while I undid my bra clasp. When she had practically torn off her panties, my hand had gone right to her newly exposed beaver, and as my stiff nipples were exposed, her hands went right to those. We were both sloppy as we fondled each others' breasts; we both had firm boobs instead of monstrous flappy ones and we both seemed to like that in other women.

She dropped her hands to my waist again. This time, with nothing between us and no one else around, she pulled me close to grind against me. I was on fire and gladly returned the favor. Her butt was more supple than firm; I savored that sensation and the rest of her body, a traditional beauty to the Capitol and her district, but an exotic one to me. She was driven wild by me grinding right back against her. When we collapsed back onto the cushiony bed, I stayed there instead of getting up to get dressed and leave. My still form only encouraged her more. "Yeah, I'd stay here too. We have only a few days left together, let's get as much as we can out of them," she said. "And let's make sure one of us has decades left with others," she finished.


	4. Double And Famous

_Previously in Reaping Beauty: The 73__rd__ Hunger Games' female tributes from Districts One and District Seven are both actively bisexual and quickly become very interested in each other. Two __girls from District Twelve ponder latent versions of such feelings. Meanwhile in the Training Center, Glimmer gets Johanna into the Career Alliance and into her pants._

**Chapter**

(Lustre Shinesmith – Glimmer's sister)

I was well aware that my sister had a very active love life, and we long since knew she was going to volunteer for the Hunger Games some day, but I hadn't expected her to be feeling up her competition. I had seen her with some girls before as well as lots of boys, so that part wasn't a surprise. I just knew that Glim was going to make it home, but that meant the other girl wouldn't. "This doesn't make sense," I said to Mom while we were watching the Games broadcast.

"Lust does have a way of getting people to do things that don't make sense," she said back in a tone that meant _words to live by_.

I didn't bring it up with Dad. He was always worried about the odds not being in her favor. Even when Big Shiny was here in the district with us, Dad was annoyed by her constant parade of lovers. Just wait until Lil' Shiny grows up to be just like her big sister.

Dad didn't like all that, but he did like my drawings and wanted to make jewelry out of them one day – that was his job, to make beautiful things out of precious metal.

Glim was even more pretty and glamorous than usual standing in the wheeled cart pulled by beautiful horses. She was wrapped in a bright fur coat, and the fabric moved as she waved her arm. My sister had the wonderful smile that ran in the family. As she showed off her immaculate teeth to the Capitol crowd, she was getting so many flowers thrown at her. The boy next to her did not look bad either, but Glimmer knew him and had told me "Idiot boys aren't worth it, no matter how handsome they are". _Some of _her _'words to live by'_.

I had kissed several boys, some of them fairly heavily, but no girls yet. Maybe I would turn out to be like Glim in that way too. I wasn't quite thirteen yet. Fourteen was the big birthday, since then you could have sex with someone, boy or girl, if they were also fourteen. Glim had spent much of that day with a boy she knew from Career training named Agate. Agate liked a girl named Amber now. I hadn't picked anyone yet, but if Glim could find someone in a day, I could find someone in a bit over a year.

(Katniss Everdeen)

"There you are, Little Duck!" I said as I saw my darling little sister Prim come to the kitchen fully dressed after her bath.

"Hi Katniss!," she said, simply glad that the Capitol hadn't stolen her fiercely protective big sister this year at least. I wouldn't burden her with Gale's rants – sometimes they tire _me_ out, and who knows what the youngest Everdeen might repeat to the wrong person?

Gale taught me that we at least shouldn't enjoy the macabre spectacle, that it takes away some of the Games' power over Panem when people care no more than the Peacekeepers make them care. Heck, although some of our Peacekeepers were still full of the propaganda from their training, a lot of them didn't care much themselves – many were regular customers at the Hob black market where we were amongst the regular sellers. However, the heightened tension of the Games and the Peacekeeper reserves sent from elsewhere in Panem didn't help.

"That's the only time I've seen you happy watching the Games," Prim continued. It was obvious what 'that' meant – Glimmer and Johanna being magnetically drawn to each other. "You liked that."

"Maybe I did," I agreed, "but I thought you had no idea – you're too young to kiss boys or girls, let alone do whatever it is they were doing."

"Your Little Duck knows more than you think," she said with an air of satisfaction. "And maybe Madge does too," she suggested. The implication was twofold in mentioning Madge but not Mother. As much as she loves Mother, she understands my distance. I apparently don't understand even the few people I'm close to.

I thought about it while out in the woods with Gale the next day. I'd mention it to each of them in person, but I had no idea how. If I was acting differently today and Gale sensed it, he wasn't showing it. Most of our talking was practical communication about the hunt. The woods actually gave me a perfect opportunity to go see Madge. On our way back to the fence, I told him "I'll deliver the strawberries to Fort Undersee".

This was his sarcastic nickname for the mayor's house, relatively luxurious compared to the rest of the Merchant Section, let alone our shacks in the Seam. He smiled at it and said, "See ya at the Hob, Catnip."

I forded the moat of Fort Undersee, puddles left over from yesterday's heavy rains. Fortunately, the daughter was at the gate and not the father. I presented her with the bag of strawberries and she gave me a silver denarius. Usually I got only a few bronze assarions, and today she essentially gave me sixteen of those. I knew I had found more than usual today, but I don't think I had ended up with that much more. I didn't complain as I pocketed the coin to complete the transaction.

Yet I had also come here for something far more difficult. "Madge, I think I might be…," I stammered in front of the mayor's daughter. I was glad I had worked up the courage for even that. I found it odd that this scared me and repeatedly violating several of the Capitol's most important laws didn't.

"Like Glimmer and Johanna?" Madge said to finish my sentence.

"How did you know?" I asked, amazed.

"I've long since known I was … like them, as you put it. I wasn't sure about you...," she answered before I interrupted her.

"I wasn't sure about myself!" I said emphatically.

"I have a pretty good way to help you find out," she suggested. She picked out one strawberry and bit off all but the leaves. Her lips were still dripping with strawberry juice when she pressed them up against mine. It was exciting enough to watch – the feeling was overwhelming when I was personally involved. It sure wasn't about the strawberries – it was hunger of a different kind. She broke away to say "You have no idea how much I've always wanted to do that. I dreamed you'd be an even better lover than a friend."

"Sweet dreams," I replied. _I was grinning - apparently Madge also makes me smile._ I shut her up by kissing her back.

"Goodbye, Katniss," she said, beaming even more broadly.

This occupied my thoughts as I went through the normal Hob work in a daze. Amongst other things, I couldn't wait to tell Prim how well it went. "I discovered that it's girls I like to kiss," I announced as I dropped my game bag in the kitchen of our shack.

Mother was there too, and she answered. "I was shunned over my particular choice of husband, and I swore I'd never do that to my own daughters if the time came. Apparently that's not the choice you face anyway."


	5. What We Came To Do

_Previously in Reaping Beauty: The 73__rd__ Hunger Games' female tributes from Districts One and District Seven are both actively bisexual and quickly become very interested in each other. Two __girls from District Twelve ponder latent versions of such feelings and express them to each other. Meanwhile in the Training Center, Glimmer gets Johanna into the Career Alliance and into her pants – in public, they're the stars of the tribute pool._

**Chapt****er**

(Stephanie – Glimmer's stylist)

I was not impressed with most of my colleagues this year, like usual. Only Two and Four tended to be a threat to One, for both tributes and stylists. I knew how important my role was, so I figured unenthusiastic and unimaginative designers weren't doing the outer districts any favors.

This year, I sort of cared, since my charge was smitten with the girl from Seven. I loved my work and the tributes I worked with – that could be said for all of the inner district stylists, but the ladies of District One were a special joy to design for. I had seen some losses since I reached the pinnacle of my profession a few years ago, but I was riding high on having played my part in two straight victories with a beautiful chance at a third.

It was common for tribute staff to work together when the tributes themselves formed an alliance. I was familiar with Catherine, Robin, Michael, Adam and Mark. I barely knew the name of the clown working for Seven – Justin, I think. I'd have to pay him a visit to talk some sense into him, for both Glimmer and Johanna's sake. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked from behind the door of his apartment.

"To the fact that you need to do your job," I answered as he opened the door. "Johanna was Seven's best hope in awhile even before she formed an alliance with my tribute," I explained crisply.

"A horizontal alliance?" he joked.

"I don't know what positions they used," I said, the air of seriousness already having been broken. "At any rate, you put her in the same damn tree costume – you should be ashamed of yourself and how you represented our profession."

"You're right," he said, suitably shamed. His voice quickly turned from embarrassed to upbeat. "I've got it! A tree-kini, she'll be wearing nothing but leaves over her tits and cunt."

"Language!" I shouted, aghast.

"No shit, you motherfucker! Gonna bitch about my vocabulary some more? Did an Avox piss in your cereal? Are you just annoyed that neither of those girls is a cocksucker like you?"

_I'll tole__rate the torrent of profanity, but don't insult my relationship with my tributes! Granted, I had once given some blowjobs at an office party that had already gone way out of control. _"That was one time, when I was even drunker than you are right now!" I shouted, prickly at being reminded of the debauchery by him of all people.

"I understand why some of the victors get hammered – losing tributes sucks!" he countered.

"Maybe you lose them partially because you're too drunk to help them. Heck, the tree-kini is a great idea, but you might not have thought about it or might not have remembered if you did."

"I will remember it," he answered confidently.

"I'll make sure of it," I replied. I took out the notebook and pen I always carried. I elegantly wrote 'Tree-kini' on one of the blank sheets, and then carefully separated the perforations. I had a Capitol seal magnet on me as well, and used it to attach the sheet to his beer fridge where he'd be sure to see it. _Ugh, how can someone drink Platte when they have acces__s to fine wine?_

(Claudia Milano)

Glimmer was half right in thinking Johanna was more than just a pretty face. I didn't see what was so attractive about the District Seven girl. Two and One looked a bit different, but most outer district people looked way different and I figured Glimmer would have found it too odd. There was a reason Glimmer's people made beautiful things for a beautiful city, mine fought for the Capitol, and the likes of Johanna did hard simple work for it.

For Justinian and me, the real Training Center was in one of the many caves back home in District Two. However, the one in the Capitol let us see what our opponents could do. For most of them beyond District Four, the answer was 'not much'.

As expected, that girl from the lumber and paper district went for axes. She could throw them like I could throw knives. My blades were weighted to stay straight on their way to the target; hers turned as they made their way through the air. They just as surely sunk into the heart of the body-shaped targets. She may bat for the other team in the bedroom, but if what she just showed us was any indication, I should continue to suffer her on my team in the arena for now.

I'd slobbered over many a new boyfriend, same with Justinian and the girls, so the behavior of Glimmer and Johanna in the dining hall for lunch was rather familiar, the inseparable pair all over each other. Would the novelty wear off even quicker than it had for my flings? Justinian lasted long each night, I would know, but he wasn't known for lasting many if any more nights with the same girl. Would One and Seven's tragic little love story even carry through until their deaths?

(Johanna Mason)

When I tossed Glimmer around the bed, it was play, although rough, and she loved it. However, Johanna could just as surely wrestle to kill. I hid that in plain sight – I dominated Training Center instructors, but the other tributes lost sight of that amongst the glint of my axes. The afternoon of the third day, we each had private sessions with the Gamemakers, and I'd go through the same routine. Glimmer would undoubtedly continue hacking at dummies with her long knives. Claudia preferred her knives shorter and more airborne; she was the one I was most worried about as both an 'ally' and a fighter.

I shared her bed the first night. The second night, she would go up to my apartment to go down on me, and we'd stay there. After dinner, I beat her to the elevators instead of sharing a ride up, so she could find me lying naked and spread-eagled on top of the bed. I resisted the temptation to touch myself in the couple minutes I spent waiting for her. Fortunately, she was smart enough to waste as little time as I had, playing with the unwrapped gift as soon as she found it. I was already on edge fantasizing about a repeat of last night, so I exploded when she started licking between my thighs right away.

She left the teasing for the second wave. She stood at the foot of the bed, swished her long light hair back and forth, and removed her shirt as slowly as possible. Her bra left her body just as slowly, but her stiff nipples indicated the pace she really wanted. I leapt off the bed to press her up against the wall and take one of those teats into my mouth. Then it was me in her arms as I sucked on that one and then the other. What was rough had quickly become very gentle, and she looked down on my head to say "I think we both need a shower, but you wouldn't even let me strip, you dirty little girl."

The shower machine was more than enough for one of us, but still had a decent amount of room for both of us. Once her clothes were actually all off, we took great pleasure in scrubbing each other carefully. I have to admit, the full-body air dryers were amongst the advanced technology here that was actually useful. The shower had a dizzying array of scents; she liked the pine one 'because it smelled like me'. Those weren't the trees I worked with, but it was sweet, and now wasn't the time for a botany lesson, as we were fondling each other on the way to bed.

It was too early to fall asleep, so we talked, mostly about our lives back home. Her relationship with her little sister Lustre sounded much like me and James, but most of it was rather different. I quietly seethed about being one of the unlucky ones, but I wouldn't have kept this lucky one in my bed if she didn't seem sympathetic.

The next morning, Glimmer's mentor was cheerful as she came to wake us up. "Cashmere. I always wanted to be like her," my bedmate yawned.

As sweet as Glimmer's flesh was, she had something for me in addition to her body the evening of August 5th. I recognized the wood, red-brown, here polished to a high sheen. "That is mahogany!" I shouted. There were indentations in the edges of its heart shape, set with jewels my luxury district lover could just as easily name.

She pulled at the edges and it separated into two halves. The gold loop at the top for attaching it to a necklace was actually two loops for two chains. "Our tokens?" she explained and suggested.

"We're both heartbreakers, so yes," I agreed.

Our training was rated on a scale of one to twelve. Glimmer and I both had tens to celebrate, whereas the best anyone else managed was a nine. Elm certainly didn't manage that, let alone an eight – or seven. Guinevere Martell's eight was the only training score to match the tribute's district number.

As the prep team passed me the leaf-encrusted bra and panties, I thought 'This is the sexy I wanted on day one.' Well, _something_ had spurred my lousy team to action! My skin was naturally the color of some sort of bark – this kind of tree costume I can deal with. "I called it a swimsuit instead of underwear, the tree-kini."

"Justin," I said, now that I felt like addressing him by name. "It's great, but I have a feeling it wasn't entirely your doing." _That's why I wonder if it was really his idea, but even Johanna knows better than to say that._

"Your girlfriend's stylist motivated me to do better," he explained, "but the specific idea really was all mine," he finished confidently and proudly.

Glimmer was fully covered, but considered the fabric used, that wasn't saying much. "Nice, but I don't need to imagine," I told her as I winked.

We filed into the studio for the individual interviews. The District One female always went first.

"I'm here to continue a streak. For the luxury ladies, One! Two! We want three!" she said to announce her presence. Many of her fans took up the chant, and Justinian sort of joined in. Most tributes wanted their district partner to win if they didn't; Glimmer and I were an exception in many ways, including that."

"We know how you feel about one of the other tributes," Caesar joked. He had become a master at working each tribute and the crowd in his decades of being the face of the show.

"Beautiful and deadly, a concept I understand very well," my girlfriend replied. "We meet just before we're to be separated. If I don't win, she surely will."

After 11 other interviews, it was my turn. As I walked to take my seat next to Caesar, I stared down the catcallers in the audience. "If I was reaped, I figured I'd make the best of it, and I'm quite prepared to do that, so watch out."

"Your ten certainly shows that," he agreed.

I finished by telling Caesar the story of the token, and I finished with "What can I say? We're double and famous. Now it's time for one of us to do what we came to do."


	6. Growing Passions

_Previously in Reaping Beauty: The 73__rd__ Hunger Games' female tributes from Districts One and District Seven are both actively bisexual and quickly become very interested in each other. Two __girls from District Twelve ponder latent versions of such feelings and express them to each other. Meanwhile in the Training Center, Glimmer gets Johanna into the Career Alliance and into her pants – in public, they're the stars of the tribute pool._

**Chapt****er**

(Margaret 'Madge' Undersee)

Katniss and Gale were more than just friends and co-workers; it seems like everyone but her saw that. I could just as easily seen her in love with him and wondered. Gale was an angry man, and he probably would have been rather frustrated to see her with some other guy. Yet he accepted that she didn't seem interested in boys at all. However, I had suspected she could go either way, and I was the one who got to her first.

Katniss Everdeen wasn't the kind of girl to have boys chasing after her. Who else would, though? A strong young woman like her could be intimidating – even without the warped divisions of District Twelve. Most other people in town hated all things Seam. Her mother had been an exception in the most dramatic way. That made Katniss half a town girl in a way, but she didn't look the part, and my supposed fellows hated her even more. Prim did look the part, and everybody loved her. Even some Seam folks had been led to believe that Townies were better, so some boys from Katniss' own part of the district ignored her.

The baker's youngest son seemed to care about her, but he faced the same district separation I did, and his witch of a mother probably amplified the hateful sentiment. Johanna and Glimmer had given us courage, and he hadn't found a similar source of strength.

Well, their loss and my gain.

I was waiting in the meadow fields when the two of them came back from the woods. Once they passed through the fence, Katniss stopped to talk to me while Gale went ahead to the Hob. "As usual, the odds aren't in District Twelve's favor," she said. "So I at least want Johanna to win because of what she's meant to us."

"Exactly, and Glimmer already has enough going for her," I agreed.

"I've heard plenty of Gale's thoughts about the Games out there," she said while gesturing to the woods, "so I'm used to that message. But he hasn't said much lately."

"Maybe he hoped you'd be interested in boys in general and him in particular," I understated. "I'm surprised there wasn't something more between you two."

"I suppose a lot of people expected that…," Katniss said.

"Very pleasantly surprised," I interrupted. "Because that means I'm the one who gets to call the beautiful Katniss Everdeen their girlfriend."

"Well, if you think I'm so pretty, kiss me," she answered. My heart fluttered at her asking for it. I knew I'd have to take it particularly slow with her, but I also knew she was beyond worth it.

Her lips tasted even sweeter when she asked for mine – and when she was fresh from the forest she loved so much. "The woods on you smells sweeter than any perfume, not that we'd care about such things," I told her. I very reluctantly let go of the skin between her breasts and hips – it wasn't time to go for her sensitive spots, but having my hands anywhere on her body made me tingle.

I walked away from the meadow with her. She dug out the strawberries, and I reached in my pocket for seven assarions. "Bet these on Johanna," I suggested. "I can't bet, but if I could, I'd bet on her," I said to explain how I was circumventing the prohibition on Games gambling by the district mayors and people close to them.

The bookmaker was hanging around in the square outside the Justice Building. This was legal, so he felt no need to conceal himself in the Hob. He was an independent operator, but followed the morning line odds from the Capitol. I overheard Katniss talking to him. "I have faith in the girl from Seven," my girlfriend said.

"Johanna Mason, seven to one," the bookmaker responded in a flat tone of voice. _Which fit perfectly with my plans for Katniss to bet seven coins on the district seven girl._

"Well, I have seven assarions," Katniss answered.

"Done," the gambler answered, taking the coins and handing Katniss a receipt.

"Considering how good I am with a bow, I might do well in the Games," Katniss speculated, ", but maybe not well enough, and I couldn't bear to leave Prim…or Mother…or you."

(Glimmer Shinesmith)

We had five nights in the Training Center before the Games, and the last one was the fourth I spent in bed with Johanna.

Hanna was suckling at one of my breasts again, and I told her "As much as I love my girlfriend, some day I want a daughter there."

Unfortunately she had to take her mouth off my areola in order to answer me. She was now using my tits as a cushion instead of a water bottle, but our bodies still painted an incredibly beautiful scene. We were both sitting up against the pillows of the massive Capitol bed. She lay across my topless chest as my arms supported her back. "I hope your daughter would look up to you as much as your little sister apparently does," she said.

"Exactly," I replied. "In fact, because of Lustre, I eventually came to want my own little girl someday." I paused. "Lately I've been thinking that 'Johanna Shinesmith' would be a beautiful name. Of course it would, coming from a beauty like you." Johanna laughed, a sweet giggle rather than the hearty bellowing sometimes elicited from her. "Where'd badass Hanna go?" I asked jokingly.

"Into Glim's arms," she said, parrying one nickname with another. "I don't need to be defensive to protect myself when I already feel safe. Many lovers have made me feel good, but you're the only one to ever make me feel like this. As pleasant as you are to look at, what's really beautiful is your gift for understanding people," she said to continue the sweet monologue.

"I love you, Hanna!" I practically screamed, but not in an orgasmic way. "What I understand is how much it will hurt to leave the arena without this person."

"And if I make it out without you, Glimmer Mason and Rose Mason would be beautiful names too," she said.

I agreed, but added "Well, right now, Glimmer Rose Shinesmith is hungry." She knew I meant a hunger of a different kind. She opened her robe and let her breasts hang out over the edges of the bra cups. I put the left one into my mouth, and she moaned as soon as my lips touched the stiff flesh at the tip of it. We hadn't fully stripped, but the loose nightclothes made it easy enough to touch her wet spot. I stuck a finger right in her and she moaned again, louder this time. I swung my waist even closer and she quickly figured out that I was begging her to return the favor, and she didn't disappoint. My climax soon followed hers.

We slid down beneath the covers with our arms wrapped around each other. "Hanna, we've got work to do tomorrow, but I'll never forget the joy we brought to each other this week. I wish it was more than a week."


	7. 21 Tributes (And A Victor Ain't One)

(Guinevere Martell)

I, the female from District Eight, had earned her training score of eight. I admit I wasn't some pretty face like the lovebird girls from One and Seven, but I felt I could fight as well as them, and that's what mattered. I had taken a liking to spears in training – it was simple, stick 'em with the pointy end. I do not sew, I had different work back home, so this was my needle. I was going to do more than just prick fingers.

It was a pity the axes and the spears were in separated parts of the Cornucopia weapons stash. This denied me an easy and early chance to attack Johanna, yet also failed to offer her the same opportunity. Such was the risk of entering the heart of the bloodbath; in this case, the odds favored both of us for now. Yet so many tributes died while fighting over supplies. Sometimes it even came down to the order in which the tributes were arrayed around the Cornucopia.

I ran through the boy from Six instead and I believe that commenced the bloodbath. Johanna wasn't far behind me. Obviously a District Seven tribute would take well to axes, as we saw in training. Between the two of us, we annihilated District Six's chances practically while the opening gong still echoed.

I saw Glimmer draw a long knife and hack apart some tribute or another. Robert, the boy from Nine, had apparently earned his score of seven. He bludgeoned the girl from Ten and his own district partner, a little girl named Catelyn, had the misfortune to be caught in the downswing. Three more were dead by the time the metaphorical smoke cleared and was replaced with literal smoke from cannons.

Not long after, a pair of cannons sounded. There was a solitary death before I encountered Johanna's district partner. I was surprised he had made it this far. Johanna didn't let herself be baited by the threat, which was smart, and besides, she was more attached to Glimmer now anyway.

I found someplace to hide and went to sleep, not one of the fourteen dead. Only nine more, and I was going home – the odds were becoming more and more in my favor.

The roles were reversed on the second day. The Careers caught up with my district partner Kurt as we were coincidentally all running through the same sector of the arena. Glimmer wielded the same large blade and her blow cleanly slit Kurt's throat. Those around me had often joked that Glimmer's edge had to do with performing sexual favors for the Gamemakers. Well, even if that was truth in a jester's veil, that wasn't the whole truth of her ten in training.

My mentor Cecelia didn't have that sense of humor, though. Mrs. Weaver was far too sweet for that. She knew what Glimmer and Johanna were doing, for she knew the Games and she knew herself. She had emphasized her boyfriend back home, the crowd's favor helping her actually return to him. Their wedding was one of my earliest memories, on the steps of the Justice Building right then and there. Boy or girl, Glimmer and Johanna were playing the same game on another level.

I was flushed out of hiding, but I didn't charge blindly towards Glimmer as I hoped Johanna would have done to avenge Elm. It was Poseidon, the boy from District Four, that I had a good chance against. For a few short moments, we clashed spear shafts as if they were sword blades. I landed what seemed like a glancing blow on his shoulder, but it hit a major blood vessel, he fell, and I ran.

And then there were eight, always a turning point in the Games. All of One and Two, as well as the girl from Five, the boy from Nine and a certain girl from Seven remained in my way. There were several decades between the young Cecelia and the ancient Woof, yet it wasn't too long before Woof when Stitch won the very first Games. It wouldn't be too long after Cecelia when Guinevere won these Games. You either win or you die, and eventually your concern is reduced to you alone.

(Johanna Mason)

I was confident that I was going to win, maybe Glimmer, so I was wholly unsurprised when both of us made it to the final eight. "Attention tributes!" rang out Claudius Templesmith's trademark voice. _How could he be so dispassionate as our emotions rose to bloodshed? How could anyone in the Capitol, really?_ Caesar Flickerman had always been more of a showman; no wonder ol' Claudius was relegated to making these statements, however deep the Templesmith brogue. "There has been a change in the rules. If the final two tributes are from different districts, they shall win the Games together. May the odds be ever in your favor." The remaining Careers, my dear Glim included, enthusiastically mouthed the last eight words as if they were students repeating a teacher's lesson.

No one could have expected what the Gamemakers had in store for those last eight. Anyone with the brains of a pine needle could figure out that offer was intended for the Sapphic pair of One and Seven. However, the other six were undoubtedly calculating other possibilities. Our audience appeal must have been even stronger than I thought. The Capitol must've realized that separating us wouldn't have gone over well.

So I had a chance to save the life the young woman I now loved more than anything, and her me. This was rather than one or the other – that had grown into our darkest fear, which was saying something in this forest of steel shared with those who had their own dreams of survival in mind. The Capitol was the real enemy, and taking Glim away from me would have made me hate them even more, but their arena had turned six fellow folks from the districts into our immediate enemies.

Annabel, Guinevere and Robert were all somehow managing to do a good job of evading my axe. Guinevere was a crafty little bitch – she set up a field of spikes and managed to lure Justinian into it – the way she attacked, she left him two choices, neither good - either impalement on those stakes or on her spearhead.

It turns out Annabel died the next day; it must have been either Guinevere or Robert that got to her. She had been Lars' district partner, a boy who was Glimmer's first kill. Even I was surprised by the brutality my lover proved herself capable of, and I had just done much the same, cutting down Sarah, whose district partner Paul had also been a victim of the early slaughter. Well, Paul is dead and I'm not.

The supplies were more than just food and weapons; a bracelet watch was one of my favorite gadgets from the pile. With it I noticed that the fifth day, August 11th of the 73rd year after the Dark Days, had almost ended without any more bloodshed. However, at 23:51, the infernal District Eight spear girl re-emerged. Claudia tried to throw knives at her, but Guinevere's agile running foiled that, especially in this light or lack thereof. With my ally stabbed, I swung at the attacker. The thin steel shaft of her spear was no match for the heavy blade of my mighty axe. With Guinevere disarmed, my kill was brutal but quick.

(Glimmer Shinesmith)

Alpha was my district partner, but Johanna was my true partner – incredibly strong and amazingly sexy Hanna, a physical wonder with beauty inside to match that outside. Yet we all saw her vicious side as the fifth day of the Games turned into the sixth. How to counter Guinevere's long spear had been the big problem for us Careers. We thought the answer was Claudia throwing even farther than Guinevere could thrust, but for some reason that hadn't worked. There was no way I could have reached her with my machete; it had been no sure thing even with Johanna's big axe, and it probably would have been similarly risky with Alpha's sword.

In the Training Center, Gloss had helped preserve our privacy, but there was no privacy in the arena, so Hanna and I kept our hands to ourselves. Alpha took prurient interest in what we were doing. "Next time he says 'I wanna watch', I'm gonna fling this bracelet clock at him," Hanna muttered. Yet soon enough, me and her would be wrapped in each other's arms and more, on the hovercraft out of here and the trains back to our homes. I didn't know what came next, but I knew we'd want to be by each others' sides as much as possible.

The seventh day in the arena, Robert chanced upon Alpha, while Hanna and I sat and watch them duel each other. They would at the least wear each other down. I think they had at least the intelligence of a copper coin, and would make common cause against us if they were aware of our presence. So our location was unknown as Alpha's sword blade met the handle of Robert's hammer. Robert eventually collapsed Alpha's chest with a direct heavy blow.

I had always dreamed of winning the Games, and Hanna had prepared to, and now there was only one man between us and something we had never thought possible.


	8. The Afterglow

(Johanna Mason)

The odds were now two against one, and for two people as close as me and Glim had become, the situation was even better than the numbers indicated. With Alpha lying dead on the arena floor, his blood mingling with his clothes, there were no district pairs left. So whoever the final two were, they'd win together. However, I figured that most everyone not from District Nine wanted to see Glimmer and I remain in the public eye. The fallen tributes were usually forgotten except by a few people in their home district. Yet Glimmer and I had enough appeal to change seventy-two years of only one victor; what other power did we have?

We tried to spring a trap on the supposedly victorious Robert, yet he sensed it and ran just in time. However, we prevented him from looting Alpha's body. This would hopefully hasten our last opponent's fall by way of lack of supplies. A Capitol claw captured the comrade's corpse. The District Seven tribute train had a cargo car attached with empty coffins that would soon be filled. For all I know, the Capitol had made Elm make his own grave out of his namesake wood, and now this rich boy would join him, just as dead. _We shall make Robert join them_, I thought grimly.

Yet to press our advantage, we'd need both of us on the chase. A drowsy Glimmer was in no shape to run and I had no desire to gallop through the dark. Besides, Robert's hammer seemed to be made of iron or some other opaque substance, so his weapon blending into the night would put us at further disadvantage right now.

(Glimmer Shinesmith)

I drifted off to sleep as Hanna guarded her Glim. We would switch places in the middle of the night. This is exactly what we'd done the last few nights, and we were still here, so it must have worked, right? This time, she didn't rouse me with a simple tap on the shoulder, no. I felt a hand slip beneath the waistband of my underwear, right where Hanna belonged, pressing all my buttons as she flicked a fingernail over that knob. "You're not dreaming, Glim," she cooed. "Your Hanna thinks it's been far too long since she tasted your treasure."

Miss Mason did like talking about herself in the third person, but as my body started quivering, I decided to not question her grammar. "Well, don't wait any more," I replied through ragged breaths. I sit up to groggily fumble at her waistband. She pulled down my pants and underwear in the same motion. We opened our blouses to each other as we had more than a few times before, but now we didn't have the patience or the security to get fully undressed.

I thought she would kneel in front of me, but she turned around to point her legs at my face as she laid on top of me. Her half of our token pressed into my bellybutton and I saw my chain against the same portion of her chest. Her forest was as close to my mouth as my gem was to hers. As our tongues struck each other's sweetest spots, we muffled each others' moans and screams of pleasure, but they rang loudly enough through our hearts. "You get to wake up and I get to go to sleep in the best way possible," she said as she rolled over so _I _could climb off of_ her._

Hanna's harsh side brought her (and me) so far. Rest softened those features, and I loved that side of her too. A few hours later, as the sun started to rise, I saw Robert, and shook Johanna's shoulder. "No time for fuckin', babe, there's some fightin' to do."

"I ain't even dressed, must've fallen asleep fast," she observed.

"Lookin' atcha sure kept me awake," I laughed as she yanked her pants back up and gave her blouse some semblance of buttoning. My hand was still slicked from the last round of touching myself; I wiped it on the outside of my pocket before handing Johanna her axe and picking up my machete.

We chased him with a few feet between us to more easily outflank Robert when we finally caught up with him. He swung towards his right, at me, yet I jumped and his hammer went lower than it usually did, so I merely tripped. It would have made sense to finish off one enemy before another had a chance to face you; had he devoted himself even more fully to the right swing, he may well have won. I started to rise dazed and bruised, and Johanna taunted "She still looks better than you!" She planted her axe head in his back. _We did it__._

(Katniss Everdeen)

I was full of energy from the victory, an end to the Games much better than I could have expected. I figure I ought to channel this energy into a particularly productive hunt. I had worked up quite a sweat chasing after critters in this stifling midsummer heat.

Madge was waiting near the fence for me like usual. Gale was willing to leave us alone, or maybe he just didn't want to think about it, so also like usual, Madge approached me after Gale left first for the Hob. _Where'd she want to put her hands this time?_ I couldn't escape the memory of her touch, warm but warmth of a different kind.

"You need a bath," she said simply. "And you're still the prettiest girl in this district," she said while pulling my waist close to hers. _That warmth again…_ "Maybe I could help you with that – I bet you look even more beautiful without your clothes on." She kept making me feel better and better, so although I didn't quite understand it, I let her keep going and I made a detour to Fort Undersee with more than dropping off strawberries in mind. Her father was busy in his office, maybe with business relating to the end of the Games.

There was a washroom next to her bedroom. I neatly put down my jacket, short, pants and underwear and nervously sat on her bed while she got the hot water ready. This was the first time I had shown my body to anyone outside the family, and the thought scared me, although it also brought on some of the same warmth Madge had been giving me the last few days. "Katniss, the hot water's ready," she called through the wall. I walked in expecting to see her in the same plain school clothes she wore to greet me, but she wasn't wearing anything either!

I stopped in my tracks and my mouth hung open. "Like what you see?" she asked cheerfully. _Apparently I did, _I thought as I focused on the yellow tuft of hair between her legs. "Because I sure do," she added. "Seeing all that glistening dark skin of yours makes me want to do this," she continued before touching herself _there_. She moved her hand around and was soon shaking all over. She had sometimes made me feel very warm, but now I felt like I was on fire. "Try it," she suggested. "I bet you're soaking wet down there." I was very suggestible right now, and sure enough, my I felt damp hair running under my fingertips. "That happens to a woman when she's really in love," she explained.

I breathed as raggedly as if I had come off a long run, but I managed to say "Apparently I love you, Margaret Undersee."

"And I love you, Katniss Everdeen. Keep going, you'll be glad you did." I had no idea where to put my fingers, so I moved them around aimlessly, but soon enough, I noticed I was shaking like Madge had been. I felt like I never had before, and I was even sweatier than when we started playing this little game.

"I like this game," I told her. It seems my body had already told her that, so she simply smiled back at me. She dramatically pointed to the tub. I needed that bath even more now, so I climbed right in. Washing oneself was such a simple task, yet I slogged through it lost in a daze over what Madge had just showed me. She watched me in the tub so we could look at more of each other's bodies. When I stepped out, my legs were surprisingly unstable. She handed me a large plain cloth. Once I dried off, I said "I don't have any more of my clothes with me." _I don't know how I had overlooked that before coming here._

"I think you'd look beautiful in my clothes too," she offered. We walked hand in hand back to the shelf of clean clothes in her room. She wore the same kind of things I did, just softer fabrics. She was about my size, although a healthier weight, so the stuff fit me fairly easily, although a bit loosely. She carefully slipped the white underwear onto my body and the green dress over my head. She did well setting the braid that had become disheveled in both work and play.

It would feel odd showing up at the Hob in such nice clothes, hardly the oddest thing I've felt today, but still, I went right home.

"Reminds me of the nice clothes from my Town days," Mother said of my new outfit. Those artifacts of her past were precious to her, a reminder of the relatively good times before her parents and the Capitol's mines took it all away. Ironically, I had worn some of her nice old clothes to this recent reaping and the ones before it, and those days were the worst of times.

"Apparently you had some fun with Madge," Prim observed after Mother left the room.

"Very much so, Little Duck," I agreed.

"Maybe because your clothes had to come off before hers could go on," she realized.

"Little Duck!" I shouted while laughing nervously.

"You already knew your dear little sister was smart, well, I'm even smarter than you thought," she said with a confident smile. I hoped Madge would let me keep these clothes, the first time I remember giving a damn about such things beyond my practical hunting apparel.

(Margaret 'Madge' Undersee)

Katniss and I playing with our bodies together was the hottest thing ever. I had touched myself to the memory as I had done in front of her when it happened. A few days later, I didn't meet her at the fence only to see her come walking up the path to my house. "Does Katniss need another bath?" I teased in a whisper.

Her face lit up, another smile highlighting her pretty cheeks. "From you, I do," she answered.

"Well, step inside, Katniss," I said. As soon as she did and closed the door behind her, I kissed her, wrapping my arms around her neck to pull her face closer to mine. I stuck my tongue out from between my lips, brushing against hers. This felt even better than just our lips against themselves, as I expected, even more so when she opened her mouth and I put my tongue inside it.

We ran hand in hand to the bedroom, and I cast a smile while saying "You can't take a bath with your clothes on." Once her jacket hit the floor, I went for the waist of her untucked shirt and ran my hand up inside it until I felt her bra – or my bra, I suppose. I went under the cup to finally put my hand on her breast as I had long since dreamed of. My fingertips were met with a very stiff nipple. "That also happens to a woman when she's in love," I explained as I ran the telltale sign of sexual arousal inbetween my fingers. She squirmed and pulled away from me only long enough to shed the rest of her clothes. For the second time in real life after many times in my dreams, I saw Katniss Everdeen completely naked.

"You know what feels even better than putting your hand there?" I asked.

"I can't imagine anything making me feel even better than that," she answered, honestly clueless.

She'd get a clue soon enough. "Somebody putting their mouth there," I explained. I instantly began to demonstrate, putting my hands on her breasts to push her down onto the bed and kneeling in front of the intoxicating sight and aroma. I flicked my tongue at her crotch, and sure enough, it drove her wild. I pushed my fingers into her and then got out a small smooth metal tube that I put in right after taking my fingers out. I myself had often used that cylinder for that purpose.

Still in a daze, she didn't speak much until after bathing and dressing. "That was amazing. How did you learn how to do all that?" she stammered

"I had plenty of time to think about this, Katniss. But next time you _need a bat__h_, we trade places."

"I bet I'll be dirty again soon," she said mischievously.


	9. Six Districts And Six Hundred Miles

(Glimmer Shinesmith)

"Glim, I knew you had it in you!" Cash had been one of the first people to see me after we landed in the Capitol, and this was one of the first things she had said to me. "I didn't know you'd have a she on you in the process," Cash joked.

"I'd get on her any day!" Hanna agreed, speaking to our small group as a whole. Then she turned to speak to Cashmere in particular. "Her momma sounds pretty mild, she's the lady who made her, but you're the lady who made her awesome!"

"Thank you, Miss Mason," Cashmere responded gracefully. She had taught me that as much as deadliness.

"She knew darn well I went both ways," I explained, "and that my charms would help me become a Victor. Yet this already seems beyond my wildest dreams." I stood with my heroines as one of them, like I had long since wanted. Yet I had only recently decided to be my district's third Victor in a row, and I never expected to win with such an awesome girlfriend. Hanna's ferocious attitude added to her toned physique to equal the best I'd ever had by a long shot.

I needed a long hot shower, one that would be even hotter with Hanna under the water with me, but more than that. Our trainers had stressed the physical demands of the arena, and they were right about that. However, now that I had been there, the mental strain felt like more than just something to push through. Perhaps the trainers left that out because they were trying to push through it themselves, maybe they didn't want to leave us downcast. On the bright side, it seemed the hard part was done and now it was time to bask in the benefits.

"Robert and Tom Wall were the major sponsors for both of you," Cashmere explained. "Rich gay couple who support any special tributes on their radar. For them it's about more than just winning bets, although it's certainly that too. Six years ago was their last big year."

"Rubeus," I announced. Cash would be pleased that I had remembered my Victor trivia. As a Victor, he got as much respect as the other 66 before him and now 7 after him.

"Ruby London? Gay? Surely you jest!" Hanna interjected. We all laughed. The boy made it obvious. I wish more girls were that clear, but at least Hanna had been, and she was more than enough woman for anyone. I hope she felt the same way about staying with me.

"Once we're done with our shower and done with each other, we'll probably need another shower," I smirked. We left the tribute uniforms in a jumbled pile on the floor of my bedroom. They'd probably be destroyed, since they were customized to the arena and each tribute's measurements. I don't know how they could be cleaned.

When the water runs gray, you really needed a shower. When the water runs red, you're lucky you were able to make it to the bathing room. The caked grime and dried blood flowed off our bodies. We each lewdly rubbed soap around our lady parts in full view of the other, not neglecting cleaning the rest of our bodies, but knowing full well what we wanted to focus on. With the scented foam rinsed off, I went to finger her and purred "In a shower, how will I know if you're wet?"

"I'll always want a piece of your hot little ass," Hanna shouted back. She grabbed that body part with both hands and pushed me up against one of the flatter walls of the stall, grinding against me while sticking her tongue in my mouth. My back must sure have small marks form the fixtures, but they would be nothing compared to my arena wounds, and the prep team would fix up both before we made our glorious return home. As I whispered "more…more…more," I pretended to struggle only to rub my nipples up against hers. I told her that "We fit together so well in more ways than one".

(Johanna Mason)

Finally the Capitol fuckers finished prettying us up and otherwise preparing for the spectacle. And yet wild Glimmer had attracted me as much as tamed Glimmer. The prep team before the Games just needed to polish away the marks of an ordinary life. The prep team for Victors needed to clean up the physical damage of extraordinary survival.

Caesar still had his usual chair, but the tributes' chair had been replaced with a short couch for both of us. We walked toward it hand in hand wearing the same style of dress, although our different appearances and attitudes still made us very much distinct. As the crowd's screams rang louder than axes, I realized why folks like Glimmer volunteered for this.

A large screen played the highlights of our Games but wisely left out our little tryst form one of the later nights.

I knew that the two of us would make a wonderful couple for a long time. Glim would really enjoy the grand romantic spectacle, so I'd ask her. As Caesar was about to wave us off stage, I gazed at Glimmer yet again, but this time clasped one of her hands with both of mine. "Glimmer Rose Shinesmith, will you marry me?" She answered with her mouth, yet silently, kissing me as furiously as she ever had, which was saying something.

"I'd say that's a 'yes'," Caesar observed.

"Such a union is as valid as one of each, as the audience is probably aware," Caesar explained.

"Yeah," I shot back. "The Capitol makes many things illegal; that actually is not one of them."

"I could call for a recordkeeper right now," Caesar offered.

"Oh no, I bet my Glim wants a big fancy wedding. I also bet she'd want her awesome little sister there," I answered.

"The odds are in your favor on that bet," Glimmer answered, grinning. "Not only do we get to spend a Victory Tour together, but our whole lives!"

Caesar was cheerful and enthusiastic even for him when answering us, the smarmy showman. "Why not both? February 14th 75 at the end of your Victory Tour?"

We looked at each other and said 'Yes' in unison through our smiles. Pretty much the whole crowd rose with us as we rose to take our bows, those who weren't still standing from the proposal.

We'd be traveling back to our own home districts for now. "The longest five and half months of my life!" Glim told me. However, Districts One and Seven were accessible on the same train track, and we savored those moments together on the car, especially as we huddled in the darkness of the tunnels through the mountains surrounding the Capitol. I don't think anything could scare us after the arena, though.

District One surrounded those Capitol mountains, so I soon had to kiss her goodbye, as deeply as I dared in front of her father. However, Lustre looked at me and said "I'm gonna have two awesome big sisters now!" All of the living District One victors were present to welcome home their newest member and the two previous members who had helped bring her home.

I even hugged my little brother James when I got home. Dad said "If anyone from here couldn't made it out of there, it was my daughter. 'Bout time someone from Seven did. Didn't expected a daughter-in-law from One, but fine by me."

For me, feeling sappy used to mean sticky hands after I hauled trees around without gloves. Now I was swooning over Glimmer, having met my match in another sexy badass. We were now six districts and six hundred miles apart, but I still felt as close as when we first pressed our bodies together in the Training Center.


End file.
